Todd Haley upset with John Harbaugh

Chiefs coach Todd Haley was upset with Ravens coach John Harbaugh after Friday night’s preseason game, telling Harbaugh that he didn’t appreciate the Ravens running up the score in their 31-13 win.

Baltimore scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the game, including one with just five seconds left, and Haley thought Harbaugh should have had his quarterback taking a knee, not leading a touchdown drive.

Harbaugh began his post-game press conference by addressing the issue.

“I want to apologize to the Chiefs if they feel like we were not doing the right thing at the end of the game,” Harbaugh said. “That wasn’t the midset, OK? The mindset was – this is the preseason. If this had been the regular season, we would’ve been on a knee. The idea in that situation is to give those young guys who work hard and who are trying to make a football team – this football team or another football team – to play the whole 60 minutes and give them a chance to show what they can do. Offensive line, running backs, everybody.”

In other words, Harbaugh would rather get his third-string offense some work than spare the feelings of the Chiefs’ players who didn’t want the score run up on them.

“I know that’s debatable, I know there’s a point of view both ways, I understand that,” Harbaugh said. “But I just feel like that was the right thing to do for our players, to give them a chance to play the game out and see what they can do.”

Harbaugh said Haley made it clear to him that he wasn’t happy about it, and Harbaugh made clear that he meant no offense.

“I think he said something like, ‘I don’t know about that,'” Harbaugh said. “I understood, and I just said, ‘Preseason, preseason for the young guys.’ He said ‘OK.’ I’ve got a lot of respect for Todd Haley, and a lot of respect for the Chiefs.”

Haley was involved in a similar incident last season, when he refused to shake the hand of Broncos coach Josh McDaniels after the Broncos blew out the Chiefs. Haley clearly doesn’t like it when opposing teams score a lot of points on his team. Maybe his anger would be better directed at his own defense than at opposing coaches.

Haley: Instead of whining like a pig tailed little girl why don’t you have your guys play some smashmouth football? With 5 seconds left have one of your guys commit a personal foul to stop that ball from getting in.

Oh FFS, Haley needs Parcells to bitchslap him. He wasn’t “raised” that way in the coaching ranks. And since Parcells’ son in law works for the Chiefs it is just a phone call away.

THERE IS NO RUNNING UP THE SCORE IN PRO SPORTS. Much as I think Harbaugh whines too much at times too, he has every right to coach his team that way and he was being too nice apologizing to Haley in his postgame.

Todd Haley, you sound so ridiculous. Running up the score in preseason, even a casual fan knows teams use preseason as practice because that’s what it is. There aren’t any rules preventing you from getting all your stuff in. Look at the idiot Saints, they blitzed the niners every down in last week’s preseason game….even though Jim Harbaugh had very limited time with his new team he didn’t cry about it like Haley he took it as a chance to gain valuable teachable moments to get his team better.

If the Chiefs didn;t like the score being run up on them maybe they should have done what they are paid very well to do a little better and that’s stop them.

If a team can put 90 points up in a game, let them.
This ain’t pee wee league ball, these are professionals, they are meant to “earn” a living by scoring on offense and stopping scores on defense. You don’t do that don’t come crying about feelings, go find a way to do your JOB better.

I’ve never understood the running up the score thing. if you don’t want teams scoring, tell your defense to stop the opposing team! doesn’t matter if there is five minutes or five seconds left, preseason or regular, the offense is supposed to score. eff the crybabies that can’t take it.

Toad haley keeps whining and crying about stuff like this.
This is only the PRE season. PRE season ok. Stop whining
And crying and complaining. Like ray ray would say ” it’s a man’s
Game, now get off the field aarff aarff”…

The NFL is weird in this way – there aren’t too many other sports where opposition coaches expect a team to go easy on them when they fall a long way back. As just about everyone else has said – go and stop them yourselves Chiefs!

I like Todd Haley but I’m beginning to feel like he does a lot of whining about scores. Either stop somebody (Denver last year) or realize that in the preseason teams won’t take a knee. I didn’t have to read more than the headline to know why Harbaugh did what he did. Why didn’t Haley realize that?

I agree with Harbaugh. Careers are dependent on preseason play. A few etiquette rules get tossed out the window with the understanding that once rosters are established and regular season play begins true sportsmanship will commence. Last year Harbaugh chose to kick a field goal with a large lead against the Redskins with a couple of seconds left in a preseaon game. Immediately afterwards he ran up to Shanahan and said he wasn’t trying to run up the score but he had a tight kicker competition that was still up in the air. Shanahan understood. Perhaps Haley is still stinging from the playoff loss at Arrowhead at the hands of the Ravens. Either way, he may want to lighten up – at least during the preseason.

Hey Todd, instead of letting your players see you get mad at the other coach, how about letting them know they got outplayed. Now, if he tried to after them in the locker room or practice he has lost all credibility because he has already made it clear to them that they weren’t to blame, John Harbaugh is.

From a dedicated Chief’s fan…….Todd needs to grow up a lot! I think he’s done a great job with the team but he needs to know that preseason is just that PRE season!!!! Get the best 53 on the sidelines for the season and if they can’t make a goal line stand with 5 seconds left can thier ass!!

If Haley wants to concede the game he should take his players and leave the field. Otherwise the presumption is that Haley’s team is going all out for the chance that they could win. Thus the other team should go all out to stop them. There is no running up the score. Both teams should play all out until the final gun. Haley should give up competitive sports if he doesn’t like that. He doesn’t sound like a football player. He sounds like a jackass.

This isn’t about crying, like a few have pushed, but rather it is about ethics, and John Harbaugh is clearly lacking just like Josh McDaniels; preseason or not, that excuse is a lame cover for having no ethics.

Hey Todd, it’s not just another touchdown, it’s actually some “Ballers” future on the line. You may respect that fact when it’s your future on the line…that is if you last the season! PS- Practice makes Perfect, the league’s manifesto. You may want to try that out (real soon)!

tfbuckfutter says:
Aug 20, 2011 7:45 AM
I like when guys who have very little experience tell other guys with equal or greater amounts of experience how to do their job.

I think they appreciate it and value the lesson.
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Especially when the Ravens ran all over them in the opening round of last year’s playoffs and sent KC to their umpteenth straight 1 and out.

Those are two completely different things MDS, and your reporting on it is poor. Harbaugh is correct in this situation, any work he can get for his team in the preseason is good work.

The regular season game last season Haley was upset because he knew the Broncos had filmed his walk through via play testing in the game and he was rightly poed. They went to the league and it turned out to be true resulting in fines to the coach and team.

Of course the fans on this site don’t care if there is cheating, as long as the team they think should win wins.

I am not a Chiefs fan, but I don’t know if running up the score was the real issue, in a meaningless game why would you risk injury to these young players? I think the one thing everyone can agree on, is that you want your team to come out healthy from the preseason. Winning and Losing certainly doesn’t matter. You’re not really getting anything out of 3rd stringers when they are going against other 3rd stringers, if you want to see what they can do, play them against players who will most certainly be in the league, then you’ll get your answer.

harbaugh = 100% right. guys who may never even have a football career owe it to themselves to try and make an impression until the clock is out.
haley = one step away from being photographed on the sideline with a teddy bear.

I think Todd should focus more on how to get his team ready for the regular season and less on what other coaches are doing. Perhaps he’s feeling some pressure because the Chiefs have looked like sh#$ thus far. I guess Haley has embraced our pansy a## culture where no one keeps score in little league games “’cause everybody is a winner.” Harbaugh was being smart….using every second of a pre-season game to evaluate his players (extra important with the shortened training camp and lack of OTA’s). His response to Todd Haley’s whinning was pure class. Todd Haley needs to put on his big-girl panties…this is twice now that he’s cried about teams running up the score. As others have already mentioned…if ya don’t like it, maybe your defense should do a better job stopping the opposing team & your offense should score more points.

Ravens fan here and for what it’s worth, in Haley’s defense, he was asked about this in his post-game press conference and he didn’t object to it at all. He said he understood how head coaches want to get guys reps and how critical evaluating players is. So although his initial on-field reaction may have been one of irritation, he did not express that during his press conference. I only post this because it further solidifies how the media portrays things to get fan reaction, and along with this very post, it works.

I think the 31 other HC’s in the NFL should be upset with Todd Haley for not putting a defense on the field that can stop whichever team he’s whining about, or an offense on the field to outscore whatever team he’s whining about.

Haley looked like a moron last year, complaining about the Donks, and he apprently learned nothing from the embarrassment he earned from that.

Here’s a thought, coach: develop plays, and teach your team to execute them, that will enable your team to W-I-N.

No one has any obligation at the pro level to think about the oppositions “feelings”, Haley.

Seriously, somebody needs to have a talk with this jacka$$, who obviously thinks he’s coaching Pop Warner “nobody loses” football.

regular season or preseason if u dont like the other team running up the score late in the game theres a simple thing called just play defense. if i was coach id run the score up as often as possible. it wouldnt be my job to worry about how the other team feels.

Todd Hailey is a spoiled brat! It is the preseason you Moron! These kids are trying to make a roster spot. I got an idea for you dummy, how about coaching up your 3rd team defense to stop someone! One of these days Todd you are going to show your butt, and another coach is going to clean your clock!

The score is meaningless in preseason.
I was disappointed in the Pats taking a knee with less than two minutes to go in their game, I thought it was all about getting some work.
Do they take a knee for the last two minutes of practice?

Ah….how very Raven-ous of the Ravens. I mean…..who wants to risk hard feelings (and worse, injury) by running more plays, and calling TOs to do so to boot. (Well, John Harbaugh apparently.) Think Tony Dungy would’ve pulled a stunt like that? Mike Tomlin? Joe Gibbs?

what is going on here with the comments. every single offing person is saying the same damn thing and everyone is patting each other on the back for “telling” haley what they think. people are weird. especially nfl fans.

This guy is a POOR SPORT, I don’t see anything wrong with running up the score, any real coach well tell you “these aren’t kids, they are professionals, if we didn’t want to get the score ran up on us, then we should have stopped them!”

IMO he is upset because the Chiefs aren’t going to have the repeat season. Infact they’ll probably finish 3rd in the division.

Haley needs to put his big girl panties on and coach up his team. It’s not the Ravens’ fault the Chiefs suck out loud! Hell, the Bucs got treated like a prison bitch Thursday, you don’t see Morris crying about it. Sack up or get out Haley, your act is already stale.

I just gained a ton of respect for Harbaugh – not just because he was right, but also for how he handled Haley’s criticism – and lost a LOT of respect for Haley. He’s completely delusional on this one.

Haley….please bro,..ok for a while I was feeling guilty about that battery I threw at him as he left the Oakland Coliseum last year after he got beat in OT,..dude was mad, screaming,…maybe crying,..thought maybe a d-cell might do him some good,..didnt make contact but came close, he saw it,…Im glad now,..hes easily the leagues biggest female dog crybaby ever,…more of the same coming this year you woman.

I think most of the comments are totally blowing this non-incident out of proportion. Haley is a firey, competitive guy who made one very brief comment after a football game. As others have mentioned, he completely backed off that comment in his post game presser. When I saw this headline I thought this story might have some substance to it, however there is none to be found.

Every team everyone has been on has heard their coach say, “play to the whistle blows” or “play until their is no time left on the clock” , “don’t ever give up”, “winner’s finish.” I am sure Todd Haley tells his players something to this effect everyday in practice.

You guys are all overreacting. Haley’s initial reaction was to be upset, but in the post-game presser, he made it clear that he understood what Harbaugh was doing. It was just a “heat of the moment” reaction, like the McDaniels thing was. The only difference is that McDaniels was a prick who didn’t deserve his job.

3rd team needs snap and game film. I like Haley generally, but he needs to stop whining on this 1. If this were reg. season Harbaugh would be in the wrong 100%…but it’s not, and have not seen his team NOT take a knee in that scenario in the reg. season. Change your pad Todd and get ready for next week

A. The Chiefs outscored the Broncos in the 2nd half of the “Josh McDaniels finger poke gate” game so any BS excuse anyone wants to give Haley for his actions last year is always going to completely go over my head.

B. Todd Haley made headlines a couple years ago for getting into it with everyone including fans in Cleveland after the Browns ran circles around his defense so this is not an isolated thing.

Fact is Haley will always act like a 2 year old after a bad loss and it’s a shame Harbaugh had to even address it. Harbaugh shouldn’t have to apologise for being a better coach. (This by the way is from someone who doesn’t care much for the Ravens)

If Haley doesn’t like having the score run-up on him, then maybe he should put better players on the field to prevent that.

As a Raiders fan, I’ve seen teams put up awful numbers against the Raiders. Never have I said, “They should have eased up.” I’ve always been pissed at the Raiders for being THAT inept that playing a pro-football.

Seems to me the Chiefs scrubs shouldve been doing all they could to impress upon their coaching staff they are NFL caliber players up until the final whistle. Haleys an idiot. He’s softer than Gary Kubiak.

I agree…although I didn’t think it was possible to find a head coach softer than Kubiak. My Texans’ sideline looks like a marshmellow convention now that we have Kubiak AND Wade Phillips. The only upside to this season is our division is weaker than ever before…Titans & Jag’s are nothing special. And Colts are completely screwed if Manning misses any games (or isn’t 100%) due to his (2nd) neck surgery.

PoodleWalker….you have no right to call Haley (or anyone else) a bi#$ or crybaby. Because you are a chickens#$% coward who throws things while you hide in the stands. You are the real bi$#% here. People like you disgust me.

yelix says:
Aug 20, 2011 12:18 PM
You guys are all overreacting. Haley’s initial reaction was to be upset, but in the post-game presser, he made it clear that he understood what Harbaugh was doing. It was just a “heat of the moment” reaction, like the McDaniels thing was. The only difference is that McDaniels was a prick who didn’t deserve his job.

Being that I’m a Raiders fan, I love Todd Haley. As long as he’s running things in KC, it’s a lock that this guy will continue to handcuff the team from progressing. I hope the Queefs keep him around for a very long time.

my ex bro inlaw works in the front office for the bills (heh heh use too) but anyway he said the word around the others f.o`s was haley was a silver spooner thats got a real smug attitude and it rubs alot of people the wrong way. plus i think i read he never played the game at a high level (college?) so the players must love him for having no idea what its like out under the lights.

bloggingpoodlewalker says:
Haley….please bro,..ok for a while I was feeling guilty about that battery I threw at him as he left the Oakland Coliseum last year after he got beat in OT,..dude was mad, screaming,…maybe crying,..thought maybe a d-cell might do him some good,..didnt make contact but came close, he saw it,…Im glad now,..hes easily the leagues biggest female dog crybaby ever,…more of the same coming this year you woman.
——————————————————-
You proudly admit that you threw a D cell battery at another human being????

@bwisnasky
Except Haley, at least for one season, has won games and taken the Chiefs to the playoffs and appears to be on the right track. It was clear from the start that McDaniels didn’t know what he was doing.

Trust me, even when he’s whining about being blown out, Chiefs fans would rather have him than Edwards. Under Herm, the players were lazy, unconditioned, and unmotivated. The players actually want to play for Haley. Who knew that Dwayne Bowe would ever be a Pro Bowler and lead the league in TDs?

I have never been so shocked at the reaction to this type of story. You people are unbelievable. Almost all I see from these comments is hostile vile spewed at Haley for “whining” and “crying”. Tell me, you vast number of ignorant people; tell me what Haley said that has you so upset. Tell me exactly what he said that is “whining and crying”. I’ll show you the only thing he said, as the game ended.
“I think he said something like, ‘I don’t know about that,’” Harbaugh said. “I understood, and I just said, ‘Preseason, preseason for the young guys.’ He said ‘OK.’”
After being scored on 3 straight times to end the game, isn’t it understandable that he is annoyed at his team? And isn’t it understandable that after the game he misdirected his annoyance at Harbaugh? After the game, after he cooled off, he said straight out that he understood what Harbaugh was doing, and said that he knew it wasn’t wrong. How was he being such a whiner? And how in the world did you lemmings let Smith rile you all up so much over a non-story? It’s downright disgraceful! Somebody please tell me what Haley said that deserves this hostility.

Haley deserves this hostility because he got ripped previously for being a candy-a$$ this way.

Haley deserves this hostility because he was glaring at the Ravens bench like he wanted to kill somebody with 25 seconds left, when he should’ve been glaring at his Defensive Coordinator.

Haley deserves this hostility because (and you’re wrong here unfortunately), he was more pi$$ed at Harbaugh than he was his own team at the end of the game…it wasn’t you’re assumed transference (I think that’s what shrinks call it).

If you’re Todd Haley, you have no rope anymore to react wrong and wise up later with the media.

The whole point with this pu$$y is how he reacts in the 1st place. Grow up, grow a pair, and coach your team. Leave the judgments to the fans and the media…they’re going to make them anyway, and they sure as hell did on Todd Haley here (again).

Give me a break Haley. These guys work their tails off and they’re one or two good plays away from making a few hundred grand a year or going to live back home and figure out what career path to take next. Just as our young guys on offense were out there your young guys on D were out there getting reps too. Stop whining.

“Haley deserves this hostility because he got ripped previously for being a candy-a$$ this way.”

You mean when he thought Josh McDaniels cheated? You still think that was about running up the score? If you’re going to form such a harsh opinion of someone you don’t know, you had better get the facts about them straight.

“Haley deserves this hostility because he was glaring at the Ravens bench like he wanted to kill somebody with 25 seconds left, when he should’ve been glaring at his Defensive Coordinator.”

You’re going to be this awful towards him because he was glaring in the wrong direction? He was annoyed at the 21 unanswered points, and was “glaring” towards the field.

“Haley deserves this hostility because (and you’re wrong here unfortunately), he was more pi$$ed at Harbaugh than he was his own team at the end of the game…it wasn’t you’re assumed transference (I think that’s what shrinks call it).”

Why do you think he was so pissed at Harbaugh? Just because Smith told you to? Think for yourself, man. Haley didn’t blow up at Harbaugh, didn’t say anything rude to him, didn’t even (God forbid) refuse to shake his hand. I mean, honestly… In his quote, Harbaugh even says that he understands Haley’s (extremely minor) reaction!

“The whole point with this pu$$y is how he reacts in the 1st place. Grow up, grow a pair, and coach your team.”

You’re telling the man to grow up, a sentence after calling him a “pu$$y”? Do I really need to point out what’s wrong with that?

I’m not saying Haley’s wonderful. He has his flaws, for sure. I’m just shocked that you people are tearing into the guy over this non-story Smith has cooked up. Why don’t we all just relax a little bit, and not be so quick to hostility?